The health care system said it feared the legislation could create a "gray area" where its employees could decline to treat patients by claiming religious objections to patients' personal characteristics.

Supporters of the measure say it would offer legal protections to business owners who don't want to provide services for same-sex marriages, which became legal in Indiana last year after a series of federal court rulings.

But Jessica Barth, Eskenazi's vice president of legal affairs and chief counsel, said such a state law could conflict with other federal regulations and accreditation standards that require the hospital to provide care for all people without bias. The hospital also has its own non-discrimination policies.

"That's where we would get into a gray area that we would prefer not to be in," she said, "if we have an employee who refuses to provide care based on that person's personal characteristics — we have policies that prohibit that, and we would discipline that employee."

A religious freedom law would "(call) into question our ability to discipline an employee," Barth said.

A statement from the health care system argued the legislation also could "undermine our patients' trust in every member of Eskenazi Health's staff and our health system in general."